Pace Gallery’s retreat from expansion may be the clearest sign yet that the mega-gallery era is losing its footing
Pace Gallery is preparing a significant contraction: the New York-based gallery plans to reduce its workforce from about 250 staff to 200 and may cut as many as 50 artists from a roster of 135. The names identified so far include teamLab, David Goldblatt, and Grada Kilomba. The move arrives at a moment when the art market is still adjusting to higher operating costs, uneven demand, and a growing skepticism toward scale for scale’s sake.
Marc Glimcher, Pace’s chief executive, described the gallery’s current model as “unfixable” in a statement shared with. The statement argued that the art world has changed sharply over the past decade and that the “Mega Gallery model of constant expansion and rising prices in the primary market” is no longer sustainable, either for the business or for its artists.
Pace said it will continue to operate as a global gallery, maintaining a presence in its current locations. The gallery has seven spaces, including sites in New York, Seoul, and London, though it has not yet said whether any of them will close.
The restructuring follows the closure of Tiwani Contemporary, the London and Lagos gallery founded in 2011. Its founder, Maria Tanava, cited “a backdrop of rising operational costs and wider market uncertainties.” Together, the two developments suggest that the pressure on galleries is no longer limited to the weakest players. Even the largest firms are being forced to reconsider what growth actually means.
That question has become harder to avoid. Recent market reporting has emphasized that gallery openings still outnumber closures, but the more revealing issue may be sustainability rather than raw count. Opening a gallery requires ambition; keeping one solvent requires a different discipline altogether.
For many dealers, the answer now appears to be restraint: fewer artists, fewer commitments, and a tighter focus on what can be supported over time. That approach may look modest, but in a market shaped by rising costs and institutional caution, it may prove to be the most durable strategy available.
